By: Ethan Grove
Heavy metal fans delight in Rockin’ Engine’s newest release, Altered by Evil.
Their last EP, The Wretched and the Damned was released in 2020 and the band is sure that “People who already follow us will notice a huge musical growth since our last EP.”
“Our sound has evolved quite a bit, technical and more refined, but still punchy and heavy as Hell!” Said Rockin’ Engines in their press release.
For this album, the band focused more on bringing a darker sound to their music. They wanted the listener to be teleported to a “fantasy world of monsters and evil spirits” through their lyrics, which convey the love of horror and the grotesque that the band feels.
Each song takes inspiration from the band’s favourite horror movies such as The Exorcist, Nightmare On Elm Street and many more.
“The various subtle influences and nuances gathered in this work will please any hardcore horror movie fanatic, but also anyone who can plunge themselves into an imaginary world of monsters and evil spirits,” said the band in their press release.
Throughout the album’s writing, the band learnt a lot about the history of horror movie scores and where many have taken influence from.
The second song on the album, Days of Wrath, is named after a poem Dies Irea (translated to Days of Wrath) written in the 13th century by Christian monks describing the day God would descend on earth and unleash his final judgment on us.
“This poem was later compiled amongst other literature pieces in a manuscript named Carmina Burana,” the band said in their press release. “The manuscript, which is thought to have been written in the fifteenth century, was only found in 1803 in the Benedictine monastery of Benediktbeuern, in Bavaria. This collection later inspired many orchestral virtuosos, including Verdi and Carl Orff, to compose what I think are the best classical works of all time.”
With each song telling a different story yet keeping the listener in the same fictional horror world they have created, the album is best listened to from start to finish.
“We are certain that our new EP ‘Altered By Evil’ will define the future of Rockin’ Engine and that fans will receive this as our best work yet,” said the band in their press release.